The rally was a clear rebuke to Glenn Beck's "Restoring Honor" rally held just blocks away two months ago, with discussion about "sanity," racial diversity and religious tolerance dominating skits by the hosts.

Stewart dedicated his opening statements to judging the racial composition of the crowd.

"As I look out here today I can see we have over 10 million people," Stewart joked. "What makes it even better is the color I see, the variety I see, it's the perfect demographic sampling of the American people."

"If you have too many white people at a rally, your cause is racist," he continued. "If you have too many colored people at a rally, then you must be asking for something ... something we as a society are not ready to give."

The rally was presented mostly as an entertainment event, featuring appearances by The Roots, John Legend, Ozzy Osbourne, actor Sam Waterston, and others.

Crowds from around the country traveled to Washington to attend the event. The Huffington Post chartered 200 buses to bring 10,000 people to the event and several buses were reportedly still on their way even after the rally started.